People are becoming more mobile in their work and leisure pursuits. The development and popularization of the mobile phone has resulted in individuals moving about more freely. Arrangements to meet business colleagues can be made at short notice depending on the locations of the individuals when a contact is made by mobile phone. Similarly, in the social context, people meet without making predefined arrangements before setting out.
Therefore, individuals are more disconnected in that they are not as stationary in a set location but are more connected as they are reachable by mobile phone at other locations.
In this more mobile world, people may not be aware that other individuals are in the same proximity as them. Sometimes people meet by accident rather than planning but often without a specific arrangement, people simply miss each other.
Contacts both in business and socially are important to some people and they try to meet people they do not know for business or social purposes. People may try to be in the same location as a person they would like to meet in order to force a contact without formally approaching that person.
One of the aims of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for assisting in the building of social or business networks in highly dynamic environments where people may not be aware of the location of others. This is achieved by identifying when an entity has been in the proximity of a device in order to help to locate the location of the entity.
In addition to the application of the present invention to the movement and whereabouts of people for example, patients in a hospital, it can also be applied to the movement of objects. The objects may be any form of moveable object including, for example, vehicles, apparatus or equipment such as printers, computers, fire extinguishers, supermarket objects etc.